Molded socket for electrical components

ABSTRACT

A molded socket for accommodating plug-in electrical components requires no screws or other fastenings to secure it in an apertured panel of an electrical apparatus. The socket includes a locking arrangement comprising one or more integrally molded, outwardly projecting legs and a flange with a gap therebetween, the or each leg being resiliently displaceable inwards to enable the socket to be pushed into a closely embracing aperture and when the aperture-adjacent portion of the panel abuts the flange, the or each leg automatically returns to a nondisplaced position trapping the said portion of the panel in the said gap, thus securing the socket and panel together. It is arranged that once a component is accommodated in the socket, the or each leg is incapable of being inwardly displaced ensuring that the socket remains firmly held in place.

United States Patent [72] inventors John Sidney Barnes;

Roman Fryderyk Szafranski, both of London, England [21] Appl. No. 9,266 [22] Filed Feb. 6, 1970 [45] Patented Oct. 5, 1971 [73] Assignee Thorn Lighting Limited of Thorn House London, England [54] MOLDED SOCKET FOR ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 339/52 R, 339/51 R, 339/119 L, 339/128 R [51] lnt.Cl H01r33/08 [50] Field of Search 339/50-57, 119,125,126-128 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,285,175 6/1942 Sparling 339/52 R 2,756,403 7/1956 Francis et al 339/128 R 3,273,104 9/1966 Krol H R g 3,344,390 9/1967 Dell .L 339/52 R 3,384,858 5/1968 Johnson 339/52 R FOREIGN PATENTS 1,081,191 339/119L 12/1954 France Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner-Terrell P. Lewis Attorney-Donald R. Castle ABSTRACT: A molded socket for accommodating plug-in electrical components requires no screws or other fastenings to secure it in an apertured panel of an electrical apparatus. The socket includes a locking arrangement comprising one or more integrally molded, outwardly projecting legs and a flange with a gap therebetween, the or each leg being resiliently displaceable inwards to enable the socket to be pushed into a closely embracing aperture and when the aperture-adjacent portion of the panel abuts the flange, the or each leg automatically returns to a nondisplaced position trapping the said portion of the panel in the said gap, thus securing the socket and panel together. it is arranged that once a component is accommodated in the socket, the or each leg is incapable of being inwardly displaced ensuring that the socket remains firmly held in place.

PATENTED OCT SIS?! 3,611,254

INVENTORS. JOHN S. BARNES 8. ROMAN E SZAFRANSKI C BY 1pm 12' ATTORNEY MOLDED SOCKET FOR ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a molded socket for mounting electrical components in an apertured panel. Components which can be mounted in panels by means of the socket include, inter alia, starter switches for fluorescent strip lamps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a molded socket for mounting electrical components in an apertured panel comprising a molded body in which an opening is provided for receiving a component, an external flange around the body and one or more legs molded integrally within the body for locking the socket in a panel with its flange contacting the panel, the or each leg being attached to the body at one end only and extending to a position adjacent the flange with its outermost surface diverging away from the body in the direction of the flange, the or each leg being capable of resilient inward displacement about its one end to allow the socket to be inserted into an aperture in the panel. The socket construction according to the invention requires no fastening devices such as screws, nuts and bolts or rivets, and therefore assembly of articles including such sockets is facilitated. Virtually no skill is required in securing the socket to a panel. All that is necessary is to push the socket into an appropriately shaped clearance aperture.

In a preferred embodiment, there are two locking legs, which are wedge shaped in a radial plane and whose inner surfaces lie on the surface of the opening in the socket. The apex of each wedge is the one end at which the leg is secured to the body, and the opposite end of each leg is spaced apart from the adjacent surface of the flange. When an empty socket is pushed into an aperture affording clearance over the body, the legs are able to be cammed or displaced inwards resiliently by engagement with the edges of the aperture. When the flanges engage the panel and the said opposite ends of the legs are clear of the aperture, the legs return to their original position. The socket is then retained in the aperture with the edges of the panel adjacent the aperture positioned between the ends of the legs and the flange. Since the innermost surface of the legs lies in the surface of the opening, when a snug-fitting component is subsequently housed in the socket, inadvertent inward movement of the legs is positively prevented, and therefore displacement of the socket from the panel is impossible.

Advantageously, the socket is adapted to cooperate with a noncircular aperture in the panel to prevent rotation relative thereto when located in the aperture. Rotation can be prevented by providing a square projecting portion on the flange, the aperture in the panel being correspondingly square-shaped. The socket can include conductors which are accessible to contacts carried by the component, and conveniently the socket is arranged to receive and retain the component by means of a bayonet-type interlocking connection.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view from the rear end of a socket, showing a component and conductive connector exploded therefrom;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the socket and an apertured panel; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the socket mounted in a panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, there is shown a socket 10 which has a molded body 11 defining an opening 12, shown as cylindrical, into which an electrical component mounted within a cylindrical container 13 can be inserted. A panel 14 is provided with an aperture 16 into which the socket can be the socket in the aperture with the flange I7 contacting the panel 14.

In the embodiment shown, there are two locking legs, each being wedge-shaped and having innermost and outermost surfaces which diverge from one another, the legs being molded integrally with the socket I0. The legs 20 are each attached to the body 11 by a root or apex portion 21 located at the end of the leg remote from the flange 17. The root portion 21 forms the single point of attachment of each leg 20 to the body 11. The outermost surfaces 22 of the legs diverge away from the body 11 in the direction of the flange 17. In the normal leg positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, their innermost surfaces lie in the surface of the opening 12. A slot 23 in the body 11 provides clearance along the side surfaces and forward end surfaces 24 of the legs 20. The legs 20 are capable of being in wardly displaced or bent about their root portions 21, in a resilient manner. The legs 20 are shown in their inwardly displaced positions in Fig. 3.

The forward end surfaces 24 are spaced apart from the adjacent or inner surface of the flange 17, (see Fig. 2) by a distance at least equal to the thickness of the panel 14. When the socket 10 is moved into the clearance aperture 16, the divergent outermost surfaces of the legs 20 engage the edge of the aperture 16, and movement of the empty socket into the aperture causes camming of the legs 20 inwardly. The legs 20 return to their normal positions when the flange contacts the panel 14, and in this position prevent the socket being inadvertently removed from the panel. It will be appreciated that the presence of a snug-fitting component 13 in the opening 10 prevents subsequent inward displacement of the legs 20.

Rotation of the socket 10 when mounted in the panel 14 is prevented by the use of a noncircular aperture 16, the socket 10 being adapted to cooperate therewith. As shown in the drawings, the aperture 16 is of square shape. The flange I7 is provided with an inner projecting portion 26 which has a square periphery of corresponding size to the aperture 16. It will be appreciated that the body 11, and stiffening ribs 27 thereof should not project beyond the periphery of the inner portion 26.

The body I1 is closed at the opposite end from the mouth of the opening 12. The closed end portion 30 is provided with conductive connectors 31 which are accessible to external contacts 32 carried by the component 13. The conductive connectors 31 are held in slots 33 provided in the end portion 30. The conductive connectors 31 are substantially U-shaped resilient strips and one limb is provided with a retaining tab 32 which engages the slot in known manner. The said one limb of the resilient connector strips 31 includes a pressed dimple 35 which is slotted so as to include a plurality of resilient prongs. The termination of a solid-wire external wiring conductor can be pushed into the dimple, urging the prongs apart against their resilience, and the prongs grip the termination with suffrcient pressure to ensure that adequate conductivity between termination and conductive connector 31 is achieved.

The front face 36 of the end portion 30 has arcuate channels 38 therein which are adapted to cooperate with each of the contacts 32 of the component and to interlock therewith by a bayonet-type action. The arcuate channels 38 each have an enlarged entry 41 at one end providing clearance for a head portion 40 of the contacts 32. The remaining portion 42 of each arcuate channel 38 has edges which are more closely spaced than the dimensions of the enlarged entry 41. The edges of the remaining portions 42 can engage rear shoulders on the contacts 32 formed by the head portion 40. It will be appreciated that the arcuate channels 38 lie on arcs centered on the longitudinal axis of the opening 12.

The other limb of each U-shaped connector strip 31 includes a concave, curved tail 44 extending away from a ridge 48. The said other limb is biased into engagement with the contact 32, when the component 13 is installed in the socket, and ensures that the contacts 32 are biased along the channel 38 away from the said enlarged entry 41.

The socket described and illustrated is primarily intended as a fitting, for fluorescent strip lights, into which a starter switch enclosed in a cylindrical container can be removably plugged. It will be appreciated that the socket can be used with other electrical components such as indicator lamps, fuse-links, valves and the like. Furthermore, although the socket and its conductive connectors 31 are adapted to engage with appropriate components in a bayonet-type interlocking fashion; it will be appreciated that conventional male and female pin connector arrangements could be utilized instead.

We claim:

1. A molded socket for mounting electrical components in an apertured panel, comprising:

a molded body having an opening at one end thereof to receive components and an opposing closed end containing conductive connectors that are substantially U- shaped spring strips, extending into arcuate channels adapted to engage contacts of a component when inserted therein whereby a bayonet-type retention of said component is achieved,

an external flange extending around said body to abut against said panel,

a leg molded integrally with said body to lock said socket in an aperture in said panel when said flange abuts said panel, said leg being attached to said body only at one end of said leg, said attached end being located remote from said flange and said leg extending away therefrom to terminate adjacent to and spaced from said flange, and having an outermost surface which diverges away from the surface of said body in the direction of said flange, and being capable of resilient inward displacement about said attached end, whereby to allow said socket to be fitted into an aperture in said panel, which aperture affords a close clearance over the surface of said body. the leg contacts the edge of said aperture and is displaced inwardly thereby during movement of said socket into said aperture, and when the end of said leg adjacent said flange clears the edge of said aperture, said leg returns to its nondisplaced position trapping the aperture-adjacent portion of said panel in the space between leg and flange thereby locking said socket in position in said panel.

2. A socket according to claim 1, wherein said wall portion has formed therein arcuate channels each provided with an enlarged entry at one end, said entries each being of substantially the same transverse dimensions as the ends of pin contacts carried by a component to be mounted in said socket whereby the ends may be inserted into said entries, the edges of the remaining portions of said arcuate channels being more closely spaced than said transverse dimensions of said entries thereby to engage shoulders formed rearwardly of said ends of the pin in a bayonet-type fashion.

3. A socket according to claim 1, having a cylindrical container mounted in said opening, there being an electrical component enclosed in said cylindrical container.

4. A socket according to claim 2, wherein said conductive connectors project into said remaining portions of said channels, said conductive connectors being of spring material whereby said projecting part thereof biases said contacts carried by a component in the direction away from said enlarged entries.

5. A socket according claim 3, mounted in a housing of a fluorescent strip lamp, said electrical component in said cylindrical container including a starter switch. 

1. A molded socket for mounting electrical components in an apertured panel, comprising: a molded body having an opening at one end thereof to receive components and an opposing closed end containing conductive connectors that are substantially U-shaped spring strips, extending into arcuate channels adapted to engage contacts of a component when inserted therein whereby a bayonet-type retention of said component is achieved, an external flange extending around said body to abut against said panel, a leg molded integrally with said body to lock said socket in an aperture in said panel when said flange abuts said panel, said leg being attached to said body only at one end of said leg, said attached end being located remote from said flange and said leg extending away therefrom to terminate adjacent to and spaced from said flange, and having an outermost surface which diverges away from the surface of said body in the direction of said flange, and being capable of resilient inward displacement about said attached end, whereby to allow said socket to be fitted into an aperture in said panel, which aperture affords a close clearance over the surface of said body, the leg contacts the edge of said aperture and is displaced inwardly thereby during movement of said socket into said aperture, and when the end of said leg adjacent said flange clears the edge of said aperture, said leg returns to its nondisplaced position trappinG the aperture-adjacent portion of said panel in the space between leg and flange thereby locking said socket in position in said panel.
 2. A socket according to claim 1, wherein said wall portion has formed therein arcuate channels each provided with an enlarged entry at one end, said entries each being of substantially the same transverse dimensions as the ends of pin contacts carried by a component to be mounted in said socket whereby the ends may be inserted into said entries, the edges of the remaining portions of said arcuate channels being more closely spaced than said transverse dimensions of said entries thereby to engage shoulders formed rearwardly of said ends of the pin in a bayonet-type fashion.
 3. A socket according to claim 1, having a cylindrical container mounted in said opening, there being an electrical component enclosed in said cylindrical container.
 4. A socket according to claim 2, wherein said conductive connectors project into said remaining portions of said channels, said conductive connectors being of spring material whereby said projecting part thereof biases said contacts carried by a component in the direction away from said enlarged entries.
 5. A socket according claim 3, mounted in a housing of a fluorescent strip lamp, said electrical component in said cylindrical container including a starter switch. 